L'Oreal Colour Trophy: Grand Finals!

We’re absolutely over the moon to announce that our Islington stylist AJ has made it into the grand finals of the L’Oreal Colour Trophy Awards 2018. AJ entered the Men’s Image Awards category and after being selected from the first photo shoot submission round was invited to the semi-finals. With 8 regions involved and 25 stylists chosen from each, its fair to say the pressure was on. However, AJ held his own and was picked as the overall winner of the London region. Now we are eagerly awaiting the grand finals on 4th June!

Our team at The Chapel couldn’t be happier for AJ and we wanted to share a little more about this exciting process with you all. So, we had a chat with the finalist himself.

Congratulations AJ! Can you tell us a little more about the competition?

It’s one of the longest-running hair competitions in Europe. I heard about it a while ago and had entered with two of my other team members when I was living in the US. I knew that Gigi from The Chapel was entering the regular Colour Trophy and I wanted to enter the men’s category with Luke as my model. Luckily Luke was open to letting me do what I wanted and it worked!

There were five judges in the semi-finals. The atmosphere during the event was buzzing with a big crowd. It was great to see big teams of stylists representing each salon and stylist competing. They’ll be 16 total people in the grand final.

What look did you choose and was there any inspiration behind it?

There wasn’t really any inspiration if I am honest. I wanted to create something simple but fresh and new. I really looked at Luke’s curly hair and wanted to do something differently shape wise that you don’t see. Often with curly hair, the shape tends to be more round. With Luke, I wanted to give his hair a square shape that at the same time accentuate his curls. A lot of the time in these competitions, colours and styles tend to be very out there. I wanted to keep the look more simple. Along with the outfit - that had to be simple as well. I didn’t want to take anything from the hair and wanted to make sure they fit together cohesively.

Is there anything you’ve learnt from the experience so far?

Something really important that I’ve learnt throughout the whole process is that if you ever feel like you want to enter a competition, just do it. Put yourself out there and believe in yourself. Don’t be afraid that you have to go all out either entering hair competitions like this too. Some people hire professional models and stylists. I’ve made it through to the grand final with my coworker and styled him with clothes from my own wardrobe!

We can’t wait to see what AJ brings to the grand final on 4th June. Stay tuned to our blog and AJ’s Instagram to keep up with his amazing journey. You can also keep up to date through The Chapel’s Instagram here.

Get in touch with our Guest Relations team here to book an appointment with AJ and any other member of our team here.